Learning To Pretend
by momentary-ecstasy
Summary: A chance circumstance opens up some undiscovered possiblities.
1. Chapter 1

Dr. Allison Cameron looked past the balcony of her one bedroom suite. She picked this hotel for a reason. The view was great from the balcony, especially at night when the Princeton campus was lit up in the distance.

That day it had been raining and the rooftops glistened white with moisture. It was the sort of day where the wind was slanted and the people walking along the street below were fewer and faster than normal

She had her scrubs on, just back from work. That morning she knew by the rain, wind, and cold that the clinic would be full of people with head colds and other fun bacterial illnesses. She also knew that the ER waiting room would be full of over worried parents with children who were sniffling, convinced that their child has TB or the avian flu when it was just a head cold. And she was right. She half her time reassuring worried parents and the other half trying to keep House out of the ER. When he didn't have patients it seemed he came downstairs to bug her just for fun.

After soaking in a hot bath until it got cold, Cameron changed into a cami and black sweatpants. She settled on the semi-comfortable couch to watch some TV to wind down. This had become her ritual since she broke up with Chase. Since it was his apartment, she moved out and ending up in this hotel. It had been about a week and she'd already grown accustomed to sleeping alone. It was sad to admit, but she expected to miss Chase a lot more than she actually did. She slept better at night, felt more relaxed in the morning before work, liked to come home to the quiet, and got to eat whatever she wanted without hearing a comment about how unhealthy or too spicy the food was.

She knew she should eat dinner, but she wasn't that hungry so when she was done with the TV she picked up a book that she bought a few days ago. She also missed reading without Chase interrupting her to ask a question, or interrupting her with the noise he made when he was moving about the apartment.

A few hours later she closed the book, having finished the whole thing. She set the book down on the generic coffee table and walked to the bed. She'd put her own sheets on the bed since she was wary of hotel sheets and she likes her sheets better. Chase looked at her like she was mad, taking the sheets off of the bed in their bedroom, but she bought them and he always complained they were too soft or something like that.

When she laid down and closed her eyes she smiled because she liked the cool of the sheets before they got warm around her. A few minutes later she was asleep.

A loud giggling woke her up in the middle of the night. She glanced over at the clock and saw it was almost two am. Then there was a loud thud on the wall. This was the one thing Cameron was scared would happen, staying in a hotel. People having sex next door. She thought if she waited a while it would get quieter or just stop all together, but when the giggling and thudding stopped, a woman's moaning started.

This didn't seem like the kind of hotel people did that in, but apparently she was wrong. After ten minutes of trying to drown out the noise with pillows and her hands, Cameron had had enough. The moaning was louder than ever. A fleeting thought entered her mind as she got out of bed and walked to the door. _That guy must be really good_.

Cameron opened her door, careful to leave it open and then quickly, but firmly knocked on the door next to hers. She could hear another thud then more giggling and one voice trying to shush the giggling before breaking out into a fit of giggles themselves.

Then the door slowly opened and someone familiar to the shock of Cameron appeared the doorway. The brunette from the diagnostics office had a cream colored sheet wrapped around her and was giggling at the woman in the bed as she turned her head toward the blonde, but when she saw who it was the smile fell from her face.

"I..um…Dr…Cameron," Thirteen stuttered from shock.

It was equally as awkward for Cameron who was looking from Thirteen to the woman in the bed who had finally stopped giggling, then back. "Dr. Hadley."

Thirteen seemed to want to say something else, but couldn't manage to make any noises.

Cameron finally remembered why she came over in the first place, "Can you…keep it down?"

"Sure," Thirteen immediately answered, readjusting her hold on the sheet.

"Thanks," Cameron nodded and quickly walked back into her room to get out of the awkward situation. She locked the door and slid back into bed. And sure enough, all the moaning, giggling, and banging stopped.

Cameron laid in bed staring at the ceiling trying to process everything she just saw. Hearing that the younger doctor was bisexual was one thing. Seeing it and hearing it put into practice was entirely another. Cameron caught herself thinking _Thirteen must be really good._

She also caught herself thinking that Thirteen looked completely different a few minutes ago than when she did at work. Apart from the almost being naked thing. There was no doubt she looked good at work. Her clothes were always clean and fitted like they were made just for her, but without all the clothes the raw beauty of Thirteen showed. There was an innate sexiness in the way her hair fell and how her eyes could seem to hold a person in place, also the lean muscles in her arms and slight, elegant curve of her neck where Cameron had let her eyes discretely wander, encompassed every aspect of sexy Cameron could think of.

Her eyes are what held Cameron's attention each of the few times they spoke. The light blue of her eyes seem to hold immeasurable depth, intelligence and mystery behind them.

The ER doctor finally shook Thirteen from her thoughts and rolled over. She slipped a light sleep that was plagued by those piercing blue eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

The whole day, Cameron kept an eye on the door just in case Thirteen happened to walk in. She didn't know why. It would inevitably extremely awkward. However she kept an eye out just in case.

Cameron walked by the diagnostics office although she had no business at all on that floor. She gave into the compulsion in the elevator when instead of pressing the button for the floor with the doctor's lounge she pressed the one for the diagnostics office. She wasn't sure what she wanted to accomplish, but when she passed the diagnostics office, she caught Thirteen's eyes through the glass wall. The brunette swallowed hard and sheepishly bowed her head. Her eyes found their way back to Cameron who was wearing a slight smirk.

Thirteen tapped her pen on the folder in front of her. She couldn't figure out why Cameron was on this floor. The only reason she could think of was to taunt her. To assert the fact that Cameron new something no one else in the hospital knew about her and that she had the power to hold the secret or let it out. Thirteen clenched her jaw and scowled at the paper in front of her.

The smirk on the blonde's face seemed like a permanent fixture. She'd been wearing it since she saw Thirteen an hour ago. She was hoping to have a chance to see the younger doctor on her way out of the building, but just as she glanced at the door hoping to catch a glimpse of Thirteen, the internist walked through the doors of the ER sans her lab coat her eyes set on the head of the ER.

Cameron couldn't move. Thirteen's eyes held her in place until her body could catch up. Thirteen didn't look happy.

"Can I talk to you?" Thirteen asked curtly, her eyes never faltering away from Cameron.

Cameron quickly nodded and led Thirteen to her office. The other woman's demeanor was bordering on menacing. When they got in Cameron's office, Thirteen closed the door.

"What were you doing on the fourth?" Thirteen asked, coldly.

Cameron opened her mouth, but thankfully Thirteen interrupted whatever she was going to say.

"If you think you're going to blackmail me with what you saw last night, then forget it," Thirteen warned.

"What-I," Cameron started, and finally let her mouth catch up to her brain, "I'd never do that. I was just-" She was interrupted by the door bursting open. Again Cameron was thankful for the interruption. She didn't really have an explanation as to why she was on the diagnostics floor.

"Dr. Cameron," The nurse told her, "We need you out here stat."

Cameron looked at Thirteen with an apologetic expression as she ran out the door into the ER that was suddenly filled with crash victims.

Thirteen closed her eyes and dropped her head. After rubbing her temples, she walked into the ER to help as much as she could with the victims then slipping out before Cameron had a chance to find her again.

After the long day, Cameron laid back in the bath and closed her eyes. She tried to push Thirteen out of her thoughts, but every time she tried, the thoughts came back with a vengeance. Finally she drained the bathtub and got out, changing into red shorts and a white v-neck shirt. She put her wet hair in a ponytail before setting on the couch to read a book she got on the way home.

A knock on the door intruded on the fictional world Cameron was lost in. She put the book down and wondering who was at the door. No one knew where she was living, she didn't order room service and it was too late for the maids.

She opened the door a sliver at first and then when she recognized who it was, Cameron opened the door all the way.

Thirteen stood there in jeans, a green shirt, and a brown jacket that was a little damp on the shoulders from the walk inside. She looked at the ground which made her eyes trail up Cameron's bare tones legs, past her running shorts, to the slight curve of her hips then up toward other curves, before finally ending at her face. She swallowed hard again. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier...in your office. And for last night. I didn't mean…I didn't think…I'm sorry."

Cameron raised an eyebrow, "You came all the way here to tell me that?"

Thirteen nodded, holding Cameron's eyes. Those eyes pulled Cameron in again. Soon she was lost in the different shades of blue in the younger doctor's eyes.

"I guess I'll…go?" Thirteen asked more than said. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for.

Cameron shook her head, the images of Thirteen wrapped in a sheet flashed before her eyes until the actual Thirteen came into focus. On another abnormally strong compulsion, Cameron slid her arms around Thirteen's neck and brought their lips together.

Thirteen was quick to respond. Her hands were on Cameron's hips within a second and her lips were responding to the shorter woman's.

The brunette smiled to herself as Cameron's hands trailed down her body. They stopped at Thirteen's pants and pulled her inside by her belt loops. Cameron was the one to kick the door closed behind them, but Thirteen pulled them over to the bed as she felt her pants being unzipped.

Thirteen didn't ask what Cameron was doing. She was on autopilot. This happened with countless women. Not usually women she worked with but she wasn't complaining. She'd had her eye on Cameron for a long time, but Cameron was with Chase before so Thirteen didn't approach her. She never knowledgably slept with women who were in a relationship.

The ER doctor's hands pulling at her jacket brought Thirteen's out of her own head. She let Cameron easily push the jacket off, onto the ground before removing the blonde's shirt.

When Cameron felt Thirteen's lips on her neck her knees almost buckled and she knew she needed to lay down. Luckily Thirteen anticipated this and practically carried Cameron to the bed before she set her on her back and crawled over her.

A few hours later, Cameron was exhausted. She lay on her back recovering from the intense pleasure Thirteen led her to. She looked over at the brunette who was staring at the ceiling. Her face was unreadable. She looked over at Cameron and raised an eyebrow, "That wasn't your first time with a woman."

"It definitely wasn't yours," Cameron retorted.

Thirteen let out a small smile before she pushed it away. She sat up and started putting her clothes back on.

"Are we going to do this again?" Cameron asked, not moving from her spot on the bed.

Normally the answer would have been 'probably not' or just a flat out 'no' but when she looked back at the blonde, her hair splayed out on the pillow, her eyes sparkling in the rising moonlight, Thirteen answered, "If you want."

Cameron nodded, "I do."

Thirteen pulled her other boot on and stood, looking down at Cameron, "Then I'll see you tomorrow."

Cameron watched Thirteen straighten her coat and walked out the door. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. She was right. Thirteen was good.

For the next week, every time Thirteen and Cameron passed each other in the hall, they would share a knowing glance but nothing else. They didn't talk about what happened the nights Thirteen showed up at Cameron's room. There was a silent agreement to keep this between them.


	3. Chapter 3

One night Thirteen opened the door with the key Cameron gave her. She walked in and Cameron was sitting on the couch, looking at a laptop with her glasses on.

Thirteen smiled in spite of herself. Cameron always looked cute with her glasses. She closed the door quietly and dropped the key on the bedside table. She walked over to Cameron and sat down next to her.

The page on Cameron's computer was full of apartment listings.

"Find one?" Thirteen asked, knowing that Cameron had been looking for apartments.

Cameron shrugged, put her laptop down, took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "I don't know." Once she set her glasses down, she leaned into Thirteen and kissed her. She proceeded to moved herself so that she was straddling Thirteen.

She felt the younger doctor's hands on the bare part of her thighs that the shorts she was wear left uncovered. This time they felt no need to go the bed.

A few hours later Cameron looked at the clock. Thirteen didn't usually fall asleep afterwards, but apparently their late night activities were beginning to wear on the younger woman. She usually laid there for a few minute to recuperate before she left, but apparently this time recuperating meant sleep. Cameron didn't mind. She sort of liked the warm body in bed with her.

Cameron studied Thirteen while she was sleeping. Her face was turned toward the window and subsequently toward Cameron and the rain that was still mercilessly beating down the city of Princeton. Her brown hair had fallen out of her face and her features were truly relaxed. It was like seeing a completely different side of Thirteen. One that wasn't hiding anything or protecting anything. One that was just existing.

Cameron smiled at the beauty of the unguarded woman next to her and couldn't help, but reach over and stroke the brunette's hair. Then she gently traced Thirteen's jaw line. Cameron sighed and retracted her hand, tucking it under her pillow before falling asleep.

When she woke up, Thirteen was gone. Cameron checked around the room and found it empty. Cameron just shrugged, not bothered by this. She hopped in the shower before getting ready for work.

As usual they saw each other, but only for a second while they passed in the hallway. Thirteen was running off to do a test on a patient and Cameron was leaving early to check out an apartment she thought she'd like. The look they shared was only a few seconds long before Thirteen looked down, her hair falling in front of her eyes.

The ER doctor thought nothing of it as she exited the building and made her way to the car.

The second she stepped over the threshold of the apartment she knew it was the one she wanted. It was big but not too expensive, while being comfortable feeling at the same time.

As she settled into the diagnostics office Thirteen felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She discretely pulled it out and saw she had a text message. After a quick glance around the room to make sure none of the men were paying attention, Thirteen opened the text from Cameron and quickly read it. "Want to help me move tomorrow? I'll make it worth your while."

Thirteen tried to squash a smile as House walked in and she closed her phone.

"Lunchtime text sex with Cuddy again?" House asked her as he sat down.

"Oh yeah," Thirteen rolled her eyes and deadpanned, "It's great and so satisfying."

"Wow," Cameron smirked as Thirteen strolled up to her in black shorts, a t-shirt, and running shoes with her hair up in a loose ponytail.

"What?" Thirteen raised an eyebrow scanning the boxes and small furniture in the storage room.

Cameron stepped well within Thirteen's personal space and leaned forward so that her lips were almost touching Thirteen's. She whispered, "Those shorts look so good on you, I don't want to have to break in the bed at my new apartment."

"Who said we have to?" Thirteen waggled her eyebrows and slid her arms around Cameron's waist.

Cameron slyly stepped out of the embrace and shook her head, "Not here. You have to help me break in my new bed."

Thirteen's eyes lit up. She paused before grabbing the nearest box and walking outside with it.

It only took a few hours to get Cameron's meager possessions moved from the storage space into her new apartment. As Cameron closed the door and locked it, she turned and looked at her new apartment. The high ceilings and the huge windows made everything that she owned seem like hardly anything and in truth it was hardly anything. The only furniture she had was an end table that she bought before she met Chase and the bed she bought yesterday.

The blonde looked around and didn't see Thirteen anywhere. So she walked down the short hallway and into the bedroom where she found Thirteen sitting at the foot of her new bed with her legs crossed, leaning back on her arms.

Cameron leaned on the doorframe and caught Thirteen's eyes. A small smirk formed on both of their lips. Cameron took a step toward the bed and the younger doctor stood keeping her distance from the blonde.

Thirteen turned the corner of the bed and took a few steps toward the head of the bed while she removed her shirt. Cameron just watched hungrily as Thirteen's abdomen stretched as the shirt slipped over her head revealing a red lace bra.

Cameron smirked and watched Thirteen round the head of the bed, her eyes holding Cameron's, and easily pushed her shorts to the ground, matching red underwear appearing.

The ER doctor would hear her own heartbeat in her ears and she was amazed at how easily the brunette could affect her as she fought to control her breathing.

When Thirteen finally got back to Cameron, she intercepted the hands that were coming at her hips and gently, but firmly guided Cameron's back to the wall, pressing against Cameron, her lips just a breath from the blonde's.

The waited like that. Cameron knew the game Thirteen was playing and she was determined to win. She held her place although her lips parted in anticipation. They stood like that, Cameron's hands pinned over her head.

"Tease," Cameron mumbled.

Thirteen smirked and leaned in a little, making Cameron think she was going to kiss her, but instead she pulled away right before their lips touched and instead, kissed down the blonde's neck.

A few hours later, they'd broken in the bed, the kitchen counter, and the shower.

As Thirteen got dressed, Cameron lazily watched her. The internist's fluid movements never ceased to entrance her. Every exact move had a purpose.

After pulling her still damp hair into a ponytail, Thirteen glanced out the window to see it had started raining again. Then she grabbed her keys and glanced at Cameron. She threw a quick smile to the blonde before walking to the door.

"See you tomorrow," Cameron half-hearted called after Thirteen from her place in the kitchen.

When the door closed, Cameron sighed, staring at the front door for a moment before starting to unpack her things.


	4. Chapter 4

As the week went on, Cameron started noticing subtle differences in Thirteen and they way she did things. The touches that grazed Cameron's skin seemed to linger more. The looks lasted a little longer. Cameron noticed that Thirteen touched her more. The kisses seemed sweeter and softer. Of course it could be her imagination or her own projections which meant she was starting to develop something more than lust for the internist.

This revelation came to her as she sat in her office as she stared at the budget awaiting approval. The numbers started swimming as her mind drifted so she decided to go get some lunch before she wasn't able to focus for the rest of the day.

When she walked into the cafeteria, she immediately spotted Thirteen. She'd become good picking Thirteen out of a crowd within seconds of entering a room. She was sitting at a table for two near the window with on of the neurosurgeons Chase worked with. His name was Dr. Meronek, she remembered this because when she first heard it she thought Chase had introduced him as Dr. Moronic. His first name was Brad or Tad or maybe Travis. Cameron didn't care to remember. He was a little older than Cameron with deep brown eyes and dirty blonde hair.

She watched him lean closer to Thirteen and say something before the two burst into laughter. He touched Thirteen's arm and Cameron felt her blood boil. She couldn't stand him so blatantly flirting with her like that. It's not like she had any right to Thirteen, but she couldn't stop from feeling jealous.

Completely forgetting about lunch, Cameron walked out of the cafeteria and back to the refuge of her office. She forced all thoughts of Thirteen out of her head and pushed through her paperwork, managing to finish right when it was time for her to leave.

The head of the ER was hoping to not run into Thirteen until it was time for Thirteen to show up at her apartment. She knew that thinking about the younger doctor for the better part of the day would make it hard not to want to touch her in a way she couldn't at work.

Luckily, Thirteen had already left or was still in the diagnostics office. So when Cameron got home, she got into the shower and let the warm water run down her body and through her hair.

When she got out of the shower, Cameron sat on the couch in really short boxers and a white cami. She turned on the TV to try to bring her focus away from the door that, although her constant willing, hadn't opened yet. Their new routine was for Cameron to leave the door unlocked and when Thirteen got there, she just walked in and locked it behind her.

Cameron kept glancing at the door. It was nine o'clock before she heard a hand on the knob. When Thirteen stepped in, she looked exhausted and maybe a little tipsy.

"Are you okay?" were the first words from Cameron's mouth.

Thirteen just nodded, just grabbing Cameron's hand and pulling her toward the bedroom. As Thirteen pulled her in the first time, Cameron could taste the bourbon on Thirteen's mouth. She didn't care right then. Usually she would have at least paused, but she wanted to touch every inch of Thirteen's body. After thinking about it all day actually doing it was sensational for Cameron.

The hellish buzz of her alarm woke Cameron from her sleep. She slowly opened her eyes and hit the foul object emitting the noise. When she rolled over she was surprised to see Thirteen still asleep next to her. That never happened. Thirteen was always gone when she woke up.

Cameron shrugged, deciding to let the younger doctor sleep a few more minutes while she was in the shower and then let the brunette take her turn in the shower, figuring Thirteen would be up by then.

But when Cameron got out of the shower, she wrapped the towel around herself and walked into the bedroom. Thirteen had turned over, but still wasn't awake.

She quickly got dressed then knelt next to Thirteen. Running her hand down Cameron's arm in hopes of slowly waking the sleeping woman, Cameron felt an unusual amount of heat eradiating from her skin. She reached up and put her hand on Thirteen's forehead. "You're burning up," Cameron whispered.

That caused Thirteen's eyes to open slowly. Thirteen's head felt like it was too heavy to lift and too dense to think properly.

"You have a fever," Cameron said softly smoothing Thirteen's hair away from her face, "You should stay and rest."

Thirteen slowly sat up and shook her head, "I should go…"

"You don't have to," Cameron offered, wishing that Thirteen would just stay at her apartment while she was at work, "I'll be at work."

The brunette shook her head again, "I have to go."

Cameron crossed her arms and muttered something about Thirteen being the most stubborn person she ever met before walking to the kitchen and returning with ibuprofen and water. "At least take this before you leave."

Thirteen nodded graciously having quickly dressed while Cameron was gone, "Thanks."

"Do you want me to call House for you?" Cameron offered.

"No," came out of Thirteen's mouth quicker than Cameron had realized the ramifications of what she just offered to do.

"Of course," Cameron nodded understandingly, "No problem." The blonde walked off and returned with a piece of paper, "This is my phone number. Call me if you need anything. I'm going to be in my office all day doing paperwork." She quickly kissed Thirteen's cheek and left, leaving Thirteen to her confusion over the kiss on her cheek.

Cameron got done with the left over paperwork from the previous day, right before lunch so she decided to grab a quick bite to eat and then change so she could help out in the ER.

As she stood in line to pay for her sandwich, Cameron felt the presence of her former boss before she saw him. "House," she acknowledged him and readied to pay for both hers and House's lunch.

"You're the caring motherly type," House stated, "Play nanny and go check on one of my doctors. It's no fun to taunt the other two. They don't yell back."

Cameron raised an eyebrow. She had a hunch what House was talking about, but didn't want to give anything away. "What do you mean and the answer is probably no. I have a job to do here."

House dropped a slip of paper and a set of keys on Cameron's sandwich. "One of my doctors is sick. Go do your job at Thirteen's apartment."

"Are these keys to her apartment?" Cameron asked incredulously holding up the set.

House nodded, "Well, Thirteen's, Kutner's, Taub's, Homie's, and Chase's. I'm still working on getting Cuddy's and one for your new apartment. I almost got one for your hotel room."

"How'd you know I moved?" Cameron asked, paying for the two sandwiches.

"I know everything," House picked up his sandwich, "I knew you were going to pay for this and I know you're going to check on Thirteen." House walked off.

"How do you know?" Cameron called after him.

"You can't help it," House called back before disappearing toward the clinic.

Cameron picked up her sandwich, the keys, and the paper which turned out to be Thirteen's address. She wondered if House suspected something between her and Thirteen or if House came to her because she was one person most likely to do it.

After deciding that there was no way House could know about them, Cameron walked out to her car and searched for Thirteen's address after stopping by her empty apartment to make sure Thirteen was gone then getting the younger doctor some soup.

She found a massive factory looking building that had been converted into lofts. After she got inside and to the top floor, it only took a few minutes to find Thirteen's apartment. Cameron knocked first and waited two minutes before trying three different keys before she got the door open. The tall door opened to a simple apartment with exposed brick walls. The furniture was sparse but comfortable. From the door she could see the kitchen and past that what looked to be the bedroom.

She decided it was best to announce her presence, "Remy?" Cameron saw some movement from the bedroom before a cami and sweatpants clad, Thirteen stepped to the bedroom doorway.

She leaned on the doorframe and looked Cameron up and down, "What are you doing here?"

"House sent me to check on you," Cameron walked to the kitchen and set the soup down. "I brought you some soup."

Thirteen furrowed her eyebrows, "You came because House sent you."

Cameron paused to breathe before answering, "Yeah and I wanted to check on you." After a brief moment she added, "Our nightly activities won't be much fun without you."

At that the brunette seemed disappointed. Cameron couldn't figure out why. Thirteen just nodded and walked back into the bedroom.

Thirteen was surprised at herself for not being angry with Cameron for just barging into her apartment. She'd long since realized her feelings for Cameron were more than they were supposed to be. She felt the difference every time she kissed Cameron. With any other woman it was the same. It was just an escape, but kissing Cameron was so much more. Luckily she'd gotten good to pushing down her feelings so they wouldn't affect her much, but she was sure she didn't hide the disappointment well when Cameron said she was there out of self interest and not to check on Thirteen cause she cared.

Cameron followed Thirteen into the bedroom. The massive bed was covered in cream colored sheets and on one side was Thirteen, laying face down.

"Do you need anything?" Cameron asked kneeling next to Thirteen. Since the doctor's eyes were closed, Cameron instinctively reached out to stroke her hair, but remembered that was not the thing to do. She retracted her hand as Thirteen opened her eyes.

"I'm fine," Thirteen stated with no emotion in her voice.

Cameron raised an eyebrow, "Obviously not."

"I just need to sleep," Thirteen added pointedly.

The blonde took that as her hint. She stood and paused, "I meant what I said about calling me."

Thirteen just rolled over and pulled the covers over her body.

Before she left, Cameron put the soup in the near empty refrigerator and picked up the throw that had fallen off the back of the couch. She sighed, defeated before she walked out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

Wonderousplaceforanecho has been helping a lot with this lately. Many props to my homie. Ha ha ha yeah yeah you don't really hate me.

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Back at work, Cameron contemplated calling Thirteen to check on her, but other than realizing that she didn't have Thirteen's number, she thought it may be a bad idea because of the way Thirteen acted earlier.

"How's Thirteen?" House's voice brought her back to the ER where she stood, twenty minutes after her shift was over.

Cameron shrugged.

"I know you went to see her," House rolled his eyes, "You are that predictable."

Cameron sighed, "It's probably just a cold. She didn't take me barging into her apartment well."

House grinned, "How was her bedroom? Any handcuffs? Chains? Whips? Did you get to try out the bed?"

The blonde just raised an eyebrow, "She should be back to work tomorrow. Ask her yourself." She walked off to the locker room and quickly changed before heading home.

Thirteen woke up from a long, surprisingly rejuvenating nap to the growl of her stomach. She carefully rolled out of bed and walked to the kitchen. Suddenly wishing she kept more food around her apartment, Thirteen opened the refrigerator to search anything to eat. When she saw the Styrofoam container, she gently smiled. When she opened it, it was exactly what she expected it to be. The soup Cameron left for her earlier.

After a short stint in the microwave, Thirteen stood in her kitchen and slowly ate the soup while contemplating the blonde doctor. Once the soup was gone, Thirteen got in the shower, got dressed and grabbed her keys on the way out the door.

Cameron glanced over at the clock, then back at the phone in her hand. She'd gotten Thirteen's phone number from the younger doctor's file at the hospital. Not the most ethical thing she'd ever done, but certainly not the most unethical. She looked back at the phone on her hand. The phone number was already displayed on the screen. Cameron just couldn't bring herself to press send. So there she sat, on her bed, staring at her phone, having a stare down with the send button.

The sound of her front door closing brought Cameron out of her thoughts. In the back of her mind there was always the fear that someone would break in, but rationally it could only be one person. Unless House has somehow gotten at her keys and managed to make a copy without her knowing.

Cameron stood and walked to the door of her bedroom to see Thirteen walking intently toward her. As soon as they were close enough to touch, Thirteen swept her up in a slow kiss. When Thirteen momentarily broke away, she ran her hands down to Cameron's hips, "I'm sorry for snapping at you today."

"It's okay," Cameron slightly smiled, "You were sick, but you're feeling better I see."

"Much," Thirteen kissed Cameron again and backed her up to the bed.

A few minutes later, Cameron was noticing how gently Thirteen's caresses were tonight. They were never hard or harsh, but when she touched Cameron, the blonde could feel something resembling tenderness in them. All Thirteen's movements were slow and calculated.

When Thirteen rolled onto her back, Cameron looked over at her, not knowing what to expect. After sex like that, Cameron assumed that Thirteen would stay in bed, at least until Cameron was asleep. But after Thirteen caught her breath, she got out of bed and started to get dressed.

"Leaving already?" Cameron asked, not even trying to hide her disappointment.

Thirteen nodded, "Yeah."

Cameron sat up in the bed and knew she had to say something to get Thirteen to stay. She'd been thinking about what she'd say, if she said anything to Thirteen and in her mind it was now or never.

"I think that I…" Cameron paused. She could see Thirteen had stopped tying her shoe and was now frozen in place. "I think that I have developed…feelings for you."

Thirteen calmly stood and turned to Cameron and with tone bordering on condescending said, "No you don't."

"What?" Cameron asked immediately standing. When she realized she was still naked, she grabbed a shirt and quickly yanked it over her head, "How do you know?"

"Maybe," Thirteen swallowed hard, "Maybe we shouldn't do this anymore."

Cameron took a moment to compose herself before replying, "You didn't answer my question."

"You just don't, okay? You can't have feelings for me," Thirteen shook her head and started to walk out

"Why not?" Cameron asked, but Thirteen had gotten to the door and had already disappeard down the hallway.

Cameron sighed and fell back onto the couch. As much as she was annoyed with Thirteen for dismissing her like that, she was completely disappointed that Thirteen shot the idea down so quickly.

Thirteen spent a restless night in her bed. She knew it was because of how she reacted to Cameron's confession. It was because she too had developed feelings for the older doctor. Feelings she'd been trying to ignore. She realized her feelings for Cameron start to grow. She'd been with many other people who thought they had feelings for her, but she knew better. It was always a form of lust, or brief obsession. And she felt nothing for any of them. But with Cameron… She felt something. Something that made Cameron different from all the other men and women. She was starting to fall for the blonde. The realization wasn't a shock to Thirteen who knew it had been growing all along. It was just becoming more and more difficult to not let those feelings take hold. She was fighting for control every time she was around Cameron and she knew that she was starting to lose.


	6. Chapter 6

Thirteen's mind wasn't on the medicine for most of the day at work. She blamed it on her cold that had completely resolved the day before and a lack of sleep. House had a few quips to the lack of sleep excuse, but Thirteen brushed them off as she always did.

When she got to the locker room, she rubbed her eyes. She knew that she had to go apologize to Cameron. Her plans didn't include confessing her feelings for Cameron any time soon, but she knew if she didn't apologize, she wouldn't get to touch Cameron in any way and that may drive her mad. She'd gotten used to Cameron's soft skin under her fingertips and felt like she needed it as much as oxygen now.

Cameron raised an eyebrow at the knock on the door of her apartment. She only thought there could be one person who would come see her and that one person had a key.

When she opened the door, Cameron was stunned to find her mother, father, and brother. Her brother was carrying a box of what looked to be decorative items such as candles, pictures in frames, and the like. Her mother and father were carrying groceries.

"Mom," Cameron managed to put on a smile as her mom hugged her, "Dad. Grant. What are you doing here?"

"We came to see your new apartment," Mrs. Cameron smiled at her, "And we brought groceries because we knew you would forget."

"Thanks," Cameron smiled back. She hugged her father then her brother as they all made their way inside. As much of a surprise it was for them to show up unannounced and uninvited, it was nice that they thought to bring her groceries and decorations.

Soon, Mrs. Cameron was in the kitchen, putting groceries away, Cameron was cleaning up what little was dirty in her apartment and her brother and father were putting the decorations around the living room.

"What would you like for dinner Allison?" her mother asked.

Cameron shrugged, "It doesn't matter."

Her mother just nodded and started to get things out of the refrigerator and pantry.

Cameron was so lost in conversation with her brother that she didn't hear the key slid into the lock and the door open until Thirteen stood in the doorway, frozen by the sight before her.

The blonde doctor quickly walked over to her, but was beaten by her brother.

"You must be one of Allison's friends," Grant smiled at Thirteen, "I'm Grant."

"Hi?" Thirteen mostly asked.

Cameron looked behind her and saw her mother and father looking expectantly at her. "Mom, dad, this is Dr. Hadley. She works with me."

Mr. and Mrs. Cameron walked over and greeted the befuddled doctor and Thirteen heard herself tell them to call her Thirteen.

"You should stay for dinner," Mrs. Cameron offered with a gently motherly smile.

Thirteen swallowed hard. They were all looking expectantly at her while Cameron stared at the hardwood floor.

"Sure," Thirteen shrugged.

Cameron's head shot up and she locked eyes with Thirteen who was, as usual, hard to read.

A few minutes later, Thirteen was in the kitchen helping Mrs. Cameron cook.

"Is she dating anyone?" Grant asked Cameron.

Cameron raised an eyebrow, "Not that I know of."

Grant looked over at Thirteen and let out a smile, "Great."

Cameron rolled her eyes and moved next to her father on the couch.

"She seems nice," Mr. Cameron mentioned after a quick look Thirteen's way, "She's a good friend of yours?"

"You could say that," Cameron was growing uncomfortable so she added, "I'm going to see if mom needs help."

When she walked into the kitchen she heard the end of her mother's sentence, "Then she just dropped the basket and ran off the stage."

Thirteen laughed as she cut garlic with the precision of a surgeon.

"Mom, did you really have to tell her that?" Cameron asked.

"It's a cute story," Her mom smiled at her whole she made some rice.

"So cute," Thirteen added. Cameron looked over at the brunette who was fully smiling at her with a twinkle in her eye. She held Cameron's gaze before looking back down at the garlic. "How many of these do you need me to chop Mrs. Cameron?"

"Just two cloves," Cameron's mom answered, "And please call me Emily."

Thirteen nodded and continued cutting.

Half an hour later, Thirteen left the kitchen and sat in the living room and was talking to Cameron's dad, who insisted she call him Christopher.

Thirteen glanced at Cameron and her mother who were cooking side by side and laughing in the kitchen. She swallowed the lump in her throat and watched the interaction she never got to have with her mother. By the time she was old enough her mother had too many tremors and was too volatile to cook much. Her dad did most of that. She sighed herself back into the conversation with Christopher.

She listened to every word that came out of Christopher's mouth and was fascinated by his stories of travel and his days as an undergrad studying anthropology Cornell University.

Cameron glanced over at Thirteen noticing that her fellow doctor was rapt by her father's words. She smiled when she saw her brother entranced by Thirteen just sitting there. She rolled her eyes. She was having a hard enough time trying to get Thirteen into a relationship. The last thing she needed was to compete with her brother.

"She seems nice," Emily told Cameron with a nudge of her shoulder.

"She is," Cameron confirmed.

Emily looked up at her daughter, "How long have you known her?"

"A few months," Cameron answered getting suspicious of her mother's questioning.

"Does she live here?" Emily asked, "She has a key."

Cameron paused trying to think of a valid reason Thirteen would have a key, "No she doesn't. She just comes over a lot so I gave her a key."

Emily nodded knowingly before going quiet again while she shredded the cooked chicken.

Cameron sighed feeling like she was keeping something from her mother and she knew that never lasted long. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, her father walked in and got three bottles of beer out of the refrigerator, "I like Remy. She's sweet. And she's smart." He winked at his daughter. "She's a keeper." He smiled and walked back into the living room to pass out the beer.

"A keeper?" Cameron asked, stunned.

Emily just smiled and finished making the tacos. "Dinner's ready."

Everyone sat in Cameron's living room around the coffee table because the ER head had yet to buy a dining room table. They all enjoyed the meal of beer and tacos and before they knew it two hours had passed.

"Go on," Cameron shooed her parents out the door, "Before it gets too late." She turned to see her brother handing Thirteen a card before walking out the door.

After Cameron closed the door she watched Thirteen read the card before putting it in her pocket. Thirteen looked up at Cameron and smiled. "They're nice."

Cameron reluctantly nodded, "In small doses and a controlled environment." She strolled over to Thirteen and lazily wrapped her arms around the brunette's waist. She softly kissed the other doctor's neck. All the annoyance of yesterday forgotten by the extraordinary circumstances of today.

Cameron slyly slipped her hand into Thirteen's pocket and pulled out her brother's card. She paused and smiled at Thirteen, "Are you really going to go out with my brother?"

Thirteen chuckled, "No. I was just being nice."

"You can stop pretending to be nice," Cameron teased, "They're gone."

The taller woman smiled and brought her lips within a centimeter from Cameron's, "Really? You want me to stop being nice?"

Cameron kept with the charade and nodded.

"Okay," Thirteen pulled away and walked to the door.

"Remy wait," Cameron spun Thirteen around and nailed Thirteen's back to the front door with a fiery kiss.

This time Cameron was the one to direct them toward the bedroom. She crawled on top of Thirteen who was laying on her back. Thirteen usually didn't like not being in control, but she felt she trusted Cameron enough to let her take the lead this time. So she bit her lip when Cameron nipped at her neck and ran her hands up and down the smooth skin of Cameron's back.

Their festivities lasted longer than normal and when Cameron had finally recovered, she looked over and saw Thirteen was on the edge of sleep. Cameron propped herself up on her elbow and brushed Thirteen's hair out of her face. "Go to sleep." She whispered before softly kissing Thirteen.

She knew the last gesture was pushing it so instead of cuddling up with Thirteen like she wanted, she returned to her side of the bed and fell asleep hoping to talk about what happened in the morning.

When her alarm blared in the morning, Thirteen looked up at the clock before putting her head back on her pillow. A few seconds later she jumped out the bed muttering something about being late. She jumped into the shower as Cameron slowly got out of bed. She pulled on a long shirt and walked into the kitchen to start the coffee. She poured some orange juice and set it on the counter, then got the paper from outside the front door.

As Cameron sat on the counter of the kitchen reading the paper, Thirteen practically ran into the kitchen, inhaled the orange juice, and called "See you tonight," as she walked out the front door.

Cameron sighed, wishing they had gotten to talk like she wanted. But there was always tonight.


	7. Chapter 7

The blonde ER head sighed in the nurse's station when House was limping toward her. She just stood there because although she could run faster than him, she knew she couldn't hide all day.

Without saying anything he dropped a file in front of her on the counter and stood on the outside of the nurse's station.

Cameron opened it and looked it over. "Sjogren's."

"Wrong. Kutner already guessed that," House stated, "Never agree with Kutner."

The younger doctor pulled her glasses out of her pocket and leaned forward over the folder, "Goodpasture's."

"Although Thirteen agrees with you. She's testing antibodies while the patient is dying," House explained, "Anything else?"

"The only other thing it could be is drug-induced lupus erythematosus and both are treated with steroids. Let Thirteen run the test to confirm but start the patient on steroids now," Cameron looked up at House, who was mere inches from her face.

"Good call," House looked her over, "New perfume?"

"New laundry detergent," Cameron answered.

House held her eyes for a little longer, "You need to dye your hair. I can see your roots." House waggled his eyebrows and walked off.

"Great job," House told the group from one end of the table. "You've done nothing significantly impressive since I hired you." He walked over to the window. "It's been months since Kutner set anyone on fire or caused bodily harm to himself. Taub…never really did anything impressive." House turned around and looked at Thirteen, "No stripping? Really?"

House walked toward the other end of the table and froze right behind Thirteen. He took a step back and sniffed the air. Then he leaned over Thirteen and took a huge whiff of the air over Thirteen. He froze in place, "Oh. My. Gawd."

Thirteen was trying to figure out why House was astonished by her head. She shrunk in her seat as House walked to the head of the table and smirked at Thirteen.

"I think we should all go down to the ER to see if Dr. Cameron needs help," his smiled was devilish.

It suddenly struck Thirteen that she may smell like Cameron or at least her apartment, but House had never been to Cameron's apartment. Seeing as how he just returned from the ER to see Cameron, Thirteen knew it had to be that they smelled alike. She decided to test the water anyway to confirm the theory, "Aren't we supposed to help in the clinic?"

"Avoiding someone?" House asked, tilting his head to the side.

Yup, House knew. Thirteen was relatively surprised that they had gone that long keeping it a secret. But she wasn't going to let House know that he was right that easily.

"No," Thirteen put up a front, perfected after years of guarding herself from everyone, "But Dr. Cuddy…"

"Oh Dr. Cuddy," House shook his head, "I think we're needed in the ER. Think of all the pharmaceutical drug over doses the two of us can prevent by being there." House popped a handful of vicodin.

"Two of you?" Kutner asked, "What about us?"

"The rest of you go to the clinic," House instructed.

The men stood and exited the room.

"Come thirty-one," House added while walking out the door.

Thirteen followed trying to think of a way to warn Cameron. When she realized there was no way without letting House confirm his belief, she silently rode down the elevator with him and pretended not to care.

As soon as they walked in, Cameron walked toward them, "Great. You came to help?" She picked up two folders and handed them to House and Thirteen.

"No," House tossed the folder onto the nurse's station. He looked over at Thirteen who was already taking care of a patient. He studied Cameron knowing that it was easier to see through her than it was Thirteen.

The second Cameron glanced over at Thirteen, House smiled, "I knew it." He walked out of the ER with a huge grin on his face.

"Damn it," Cameron muttered to herself. She though the text Foreman sent warning her that House was coming would have saved her. She did good until she glanced at Thirteen.

The blonde sighed and knew she had to break it to Thirteen that they'd been caught. She stood at the nurse's station and waited for Thirteen to be finished with her first patient. When the brunette doctor was done, she walked back over to where Cameron was standing and dropped the file on the counter.

"We've been found out," Cameron said quietly.

Thirteen just shrugged, "Well we've had a good run."

"Wait," Cameron swallowed hard, "It's over?"

"I thought if House knew you'd want to end it," Thirteen picked up another file.

"And you'd be okay with that?" Cameron asked, "Just dropping it. Just like that?"

Thirteen looked up from the file with a raised eyebrow.

Cameron inwardly sighed and decided now was not the time or place, "Same time tonight?"

Thirteen smiled and nodded, "Great." Thirteen turned around and walked off.

The blonde decided since Thirteen was there, she could take a short break in her office. She was beginning to rethink telling Thirteen about the feelings that she developed during the short time they'd been sleeping together.

By the time she left work, Cameron had gone back and forth at least five times about telling Thirteen about her feelings. She knew that there was a massive chance Thirteen would blow her off and move on for good, but there was a part of her that knew she had to be honest with herself and Thirteen. The honest part won out and Cameron decided that she would continue with the plans that she made that morning to have a talk with Thirteen.

However, when Thirteen didn't show up by ten, she knew the brunette was at a bar. She didn't know which one, but there were only so many bars in that city and Cameron was going to search all of them until she found Thirteen. They were going to talk if Cameron had to stay up and wait until Thirteen got sober.

She started at the bars closest to the hospital and found the internist at the second bar. It was dim inside, the dark woods of the walls and bar absorbing most of the light. When Cameron walked in she was surprised at how crowded it was for being that dive that it is. She sighed and started to push her way to the bar. As she walked up, she caught Thirteen's eyes in the mirror behind the bar. They looked glazed over and Cameron wasn't sure if Thirteen had actually seen her. Cameron looked away with a rather large man stepped into her view.

Just as Cameron got to the bar, she saw Thirteen start to walk away. She was too far off to grab so she decided that calling her was the best option. Cameron was surprised when the bartender called out, "Remy!" the same time she did.

Cameron turned and looked at him.

"She forgot her keys," the bartender gestured to the keys on the bar next to the half empty drink.

Before the bartender could grab them to put them behind the bar, Cameron snatched them off of the bar and took off after Thirteen.

When she finally got out of the bar and onto the sidewalk, Thirteen was already halfway down the block. The street glistened with the afternoon rain and dark clouds that framed the moon promised to dump more water over the city.

"Remy!" Cameron called, "Forget something?"

As Remy continued walking, Cameron noticed that she subtly checked her pockets. When she realized what was missing, Thirteen finally stopped. She slowly turned around as Cameron finally caught up.

"Why were you ignoring me?" Cameron asked.

"Why were you following me?" Thirteen asked back in the standard deflection and extended her hand.

Cameron put the keys in the pocket, "I want to talk."

The blonde noticed Thirteen's jaw momentarily clench before saying in a flat voice, "That's not what we do."

Cameron paused, her mind blanked for everything she had been planning to say, "Things change. I have feelings for you and I think you have feelings for me too. The way you touch me and kiss me has changed. Whatever this started out as has changed."

Thirteen shook her head, "It hasn't changed. I…haven't changed."

"So you're going to go back to getting drunk every night and sleeping with random women?"

"That's the plan," Thirteen extended her hand again, "Keys?"

Tears pooled in Cameron's eyes, "I can't watch you throw your life away."

"No one asked you to watch," Thirteen retorted. The tears in Cameron's eyes were started to break her resolve.

Cameron took Thirteen's keys out of her pocket and ran her thumb over the rough edge of the key to her own apartment.

Thirteen swallowed hard, thinking that Cameron was going to take her key back. That's not what she wanted. She didn't want Cameron to cut her off. She didn't want to never be able to touch Cameron again.

She was surprised when Cameron closed the gap between them and softly kissed her.

Thirteen knew she felt something every time they kissed. This time was no different. Cameron was right. Thirteen knew that, probably before Cameron did.

When Cameron pulled away, she slipped Thirteen's key into the pocket of the tan jacket Thirteen was donning.

"See you tomorrow night," Cameron barely breathed. She searched Thirteen's eyes for a moment before kissing her one last time and walking off.

Thirteen was frozen as she watched Cameron walk off and disappear around the corner. She took the keys out of her pocket and looked at the key to Cameron's apartment, dangling amongst all the other keys.

Thirteen sighed and started walking again as the rain started falling.

Cameron laid in bed on her side, trying to sleep. The pillow she was laying on smell faintly like Thirteen. She closed her eyes again to try to get some sleep. The rain pounding on the windows was a welcome distraction from the thoughts in her head.

When Cameron woke up the next morning, she felt warmer that usual. She started to roll over and turn off her alarm clock but something was hindering the process. Finally the extra heat registered to Cameron as a body pressed against her back. The familiarity of the legs tangles in her own and the arm over her middle caused Cameron to breath a sigh of relief.

She carefully turned in Thirteen's arms, never disengaging herself from the younger woman. She looked at Thirteen's peaceful face and gently brushed away a few stray strands of hair.

At the slight touch, Thirteen's eyes fluttered open. When she saw Cameron look at her, she didn't know how to react. She didn't know if Cameron would be mad that she showed up, unannounced at three am on in impulse and crawled into bed with her, or not.

Cameron bit her lip as she slightly smiled before leaning in to kiss Thirteen. When she pulled away Cameron tilted her head, "You scared me for a second."

At the sight of the smile, Thirteen felt relieved. She looked down at the sheets around them and sighed, "I'm sorry." The apology was said in such a way that Cameron thought it was for more than one thing and that was the most she was going to get from the younger woman.

Cameron nodded with a gentle grin, "It's okay." She rested her head on Thirteen's shoulder and sighed. She wasn't quite sure what was going on, but waking up in Thirteen's arms put her in a great mood right away.

Thirteen smiled in spite of herself and softly kissed the top of Cameron's head.

Cameron contemplated calling in sick to stay in bed with Thirteen all day, but figured the taller woman had to go to work and if they both called in sick, House would have a field day when they eventually got back.

"Will you go to dinner with me? Tonight?" Thirteen asked quietly.

"Like a date?" Cameron asked back cautiously.

"Yeah."

A grin swept across Cameron's face, "I'd love to."

Thirteen was quiet for a moment before adding, "I need to get ready for work."

Cameron nodded and sat up, looking down at Remy. She smiled and it grew wider when the rarely seen smile appeared on the younger woman's face. She leaned down and captured Thirteen's lips.

Before they knew it five minutes had gone by and Cameron's long forgotten alarm was shrieking. Cameron leaned over Thirteen to turn it off, which Thirteen took as the opportune time to attack Cameron's neck with her lips.

"Mmm, Remy," Cameron closed her eyes, loving the sensations that Thirteen could create, "We need to get ready."

Finally Remy pulled away with a smirk, "Okay."

They took a quick shower and got dressed in selections from Cameron's closet. They figured the only one shrewd enough to notice Thirteen was wearing Cameron's clothes was House, who already knew they were sleeping together.

Cameron smiled at the first time she'd left the apartment with Thirteen in the morning. They got to the parking lot and Thirteen stopped on the sidewalk. She turned around and caught Cameron off guard by kissing her.

The blonde beamed when Thirteen pulled away. She still wasn't sure what everything meant, but she was happy that Thirteen seemingly reciprocated her feelings.

"I'll pick you up tonight?" Thirteen asked, "At eight?"

Cameron nodded, "You better."

Thirteen kissed an obliviously happy Cameron one last time before walking to her car.

The blonde looked over at Thirteen's car that had just left the parking lot. She thought for a moment. That whole thing seemed too easy. She was hoping that it really was that easy. Maybe it actually would work out that easy. Hopefully.

With that last thought, Cameron put her car in drive and took off toward the hospital.


	8. Chapter 8

The blonde head of the ER couldn't seem to keep her mind from drifting back to her date tonight. On one side, she was ecstatic that Thirteen had actually agreed to a date, but on the other she was worried and slightly pessimistic. She wasn't sure it that it really was that easy to get Thirteen to go on a date and what happened if Thirteen decided that she didn't want to date. Cameron had already sent out the ultimatum of date or nothing. The nothing was what Cameron was really afraid of.

"Dr. Cameron!" one of the nurses called from the door to her office.

Cameron's head snapped in the direction of the nurse. The panicked look on her face and her eyes darting back to the intake bay. Cameron had just hired the new nurse so she wasn't sure there was a reason to panic just yet so she waited for an explanation.

"There was a collapse at the pharmaceutical plant," the nurse looked like she was nearly in tears, "There's a…a lot of people out there."

Cameron stood up from her desk and ran to the door. The nurse was right. There were a lot of people. Bloody, bruised, and beaten people. Cameron sighed and ran into the mess of people trying to see who needed the most help.

Thirteen sat at the conference table staring hard at the file in front of her.

"Are there naked pictures of Cameron in yours?" House leaned over Thirteen's shoulder.

"What?" Thirteen asked, not really hearing anything that House had just asked.

"Either you were trying _really _hard to come up with a diagnosis or you were in Cameronland," House hobbled to his chair and sat down, propping his leg on the table.

"Oh," Thirteen sighed, "Um, could be Negli's with another autoimmune."

"They would have found that during her intake into the ER. Unless your girlfriend messed up," House told Thirteen.

"She's not my girlfriend," Thirteen muttered under her breath then added confidently, "All the symptoms fit."

House paused in thought, "Go test her for it. See what stage she's in."

Thirteen walked out of the diagnostic office wondering why Cameron didn't catch the Negli's. It would have been easy to spot had someone stopped and looked at the chart long enough. She let out a long breath and figured that another one of the doctors had treated the patient while Cameron was working on something else.

As she walked to the patient's room, the phone in her pocket vibrated. She pulled it out and a text from Cameron lit up the screen. _I'm not going to be able to make it tonight. The ER is swamped. I'm so sorry. Please send anyone you can down the ER. _

Thirteen furrowed her eyebrows. It was safe to say she was disappointed, but Cameron did have a perfectly acceptable excuse. Thirteen quickly sent her reply. _Don't worry about it. I'll send everyone I can. Maybe we can reschedule later._

After that sent, Thirteen made her way into the patient's room.

Cameron figured that if their date was going to be canceled Thirteen would have been the one to do it. She was more than disappointed, but she couldn't get out of work that night. She was also afraid that Thirteen may not reschedule and that this was a one time hit or miss sort of thing. As the clock turned eight she felt her chances of make a relationship with Thirteen getting slimmer and slimmer.

The sentence in Thirteen's text that said 'Maybe we can reschedule later' made Cameron nervous. It said maybe. Not we can definitely reschedule. It said maybe we can reschedule.

Cameron didn't have long to think about it because a new wave of patients from the collapse made their way in.

Thirteen wanted to get down the ER and help, but House had stuck her in lab with Kutner until they had the final diagnosis.

"So you and Cameron huh?" Kutner offered his weak attempt at a conversation.

Thirteen momentarily glanced up at him before shrugging, "Sure."

Kutner decided that that line of questions wasn't going to get him anywhere any time soon, so he decided to abandon talking all together.

A couple hours later, Thirteen finally left the lab. She trudged to the locker room to drop off her lab coat and get to jacket and keys. As she slid on the jacket she couldn't help, but wonder what Cameron was doing. She could be still working. She could be passed out in the doctor's lounge. She could have already gone home.

Thirteen shook her head. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. Maybe all she was meant to get out of it was a fleeting connection and a great lay. She rubbed her eyes before closing her locker. The door seemed heavier than usual because she was exhausted. Everything around her seemed to be moving slower that it was supposed to.

As she stepped off the elevator, she glanced through the ER doors to see if Cameron was still there. As she searched the few people that were still left in the ER, she didn't see the blonde she'd been dying to see all day.

She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. She couldn't help but think that just as things were finally starting to go right, they all take a downward turn and head straight for rock bottom. Not that one cancelled date was rock bottom, but it was on the way. She knew that if she could somehow manage to not be self destructive for one night with Cameron that she may actually be able to pull off a relationship with the ER head.

As she walked out into the cold night alone, Thirteen shoved her hands into her pockets and walked into the near empty parking lot.

It wasn't five minutes before the glare of the neon sign streamed through her windshield. She got out of her car and slammed the door shut, harder than she intended. The smell of stale cigarette smoke and liquor wafted out the door toward her, enticing her to follow the flow inside.

The brunette settled at a stool in the musty bar and ordered a bourbon, planning to drink until she forgot all about Cameron and any feelings that she had for the blonde.


	9. Chapter 9

She wasn't sure how long ago her shift ended or when the last collapse victim was admitted, but Cameron had worked well into the early morning. She sat at her desk and stared at the wall, trying to will her body to stand so she could go home for some much needed rest.

After a quick glance at the clock, her legs started moving again. It was almost eight a.m.. She decided to leave before the morning flood of patients. She threw a book, her wallet and keys into her bag before walking out of her office, locking the door behind her.

As she walked out she glanced at the TV in the waiting room, briefly wondering what was going on in the world before her longing for sleep won out. Just as she turned away a fire blazed on the screen. She looked back to see what forest or city was on fire.

Her knees when weak as she recognized the building in a blaze on the screen. Her eyes followed the white letters scrolling the bottom of the screen. "Chemical fire engulfs Midwest Fertility Center. The fire started in a research lab on the north side of the complex and has slowly been crawling south as high winds fan the flames. Firefighters have been working since 4 a.m. to put out the fire."

"Dr. Cameron?" one of the ER nurses asked. He touched her arm, which tore her attention away from the TV. "Are you alright?" When she looked at him, her eyes were glazed over, like she wasn't really seeing him.

Cameron shook her head a few seconds later and muttered, "I have to go." Before tearing out of the ER. She practically ran to her car as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. The ER doctor wiped her eyes and started her car, speeding out of the parking lot while digging through her bag for her phone. She had a lot of phone calls to make.

Thirteen watched as Cameron sped out of the parking lot. She wondered why the blonde didn't say anything as she walked through the front doors of the hospital. There was always at least a sly smile. Thirteen would have chalked it up to Cameron just not seeing her as she made her way home in an exhausted trance, but she was sure that she saw Cameron crying.

The brunette took out her cell phone and dialed Cameron on her way to the locker room, to get her lab coat. It went straight to voicemail. Thirteen hung up before the beep and glanced back toward the parking lot trying to decide what to do.

After work, Thirteen decided to go straight to Cameron's apartment to see what happened. When she got there, she knocked for a minute before using her key to get in. When she flipped the light on in the living room nothing seemed to be out of place, but when she got to the bedroom, it looked like Cameron had packed in a hurry to go somewhere. Thirteen walked across the hallway to Cameron's at home office. The screen saver was on so she touched the mouse and saw a confirmation for a flight to Chicago and a hotel with an open return flight.

Thirteen was trying desperately to make sense of everything she was seeing, but it wasn't adding up. Cameron didn't have any family in Chicago. She looked around one last time, deciding that if Cameron wanted her to know what was going on that she'd call. She picked up the mess in Cameron's bedroom and put the blonde's computer to sleep.

As she walked back into the living room, Thirteen noticed that the TV was on in the corner. She didn't notice it walking in because it was facing away from the door. It was turned to a news channel showing a fire burning in a suburb of Chicago. Thirteen read all the information on the TV while the newscaster spoke. When the story was over she turned off the TV and walked out the front door, still wondering what happened to Cameron.

"I can't tell you that ma'am until I can verify your identity," the man on the phone told Cameron.

"Well what can you tell me?" Cameron asked, pacing her hotel room.

The man paused, "As soon as the fire is out, come to the offices across the street and we'll sort this whole thing out."

Cameron sighed, "Can't you just tell me if any of the long-term storage containers were damaged?"

There was another pause. The man's voice grew grave, "Yes, some of the containers were damaged and some of the specimens inside were destroyed."

"Thank you," Cameron managed to get out before hanging up before silent tears cascaded down her face. The fire may or may not have destroyed all she had left for her dead husband.

Thirteen stared into the drink and narrowed her eyes. She couldn't stop thinking about how distraught Cameron looked when she ran out of the hospital. Something was really wrong.

"Something on your mind?" the bartender asked as she restocked the beer under the bar. It was an usually slow night although it was a Tuesday and Thirteen was the only person sitting at the bar. The handful of other people were sitting at tables scattered around behind her.

"Yeah," Thirteen sighed.

"Wanna talk about it?" the bartender stood up fully.

Thirteen shook her head.

The bartender shrugged and walked off to get more beer, leaving Thirteen alone with her thoughts. As she stared into the brown liquid it all clicked. The plane ticket to Chicago, the fire in at the Fertility Center in the suburb, how upset Cameron was.

Thirteen swallowed hard and pushed her drink away. She was sure she wouldn't be the first person Cameron would call after something like that happened, but she wanted to be there for Cameron. And if she was going to be there for Cameron, at all she was going to do it sober.

She dropped some money next to her drink and stood.

"Leaving already?" the bartender asked, walking out of the back with a crate of beer in her arms.

"Yeah," Thirteen nodded, slipping her jacket back on.

The bartender put the beer down and opened the register. She put in the money for Thirteen's one drink that she'd barely touched and took out Thirteen's keys, tossing them to the internist.

"Be safe," the bartender called as Thirteen quickly walked out the door.

When Thirteen got back to Cameron's apartment, she wasn't sure if she expected Cameron to be there or not, but she thought she'd check one last time. When Cameron wasn't there, Thirteen went to the computer and tried to memorize the name of Cameron's hotel and the room number before giving up and taking a picture of the confirmation with her phone.

Cameron laid on the bed in her hotel room and tried to quell her tears. She'd been holding on to this one last piece Danny since the day he died. It was her one chance to have him again. And it might be lost gone. The blonde couldn't think anything, but she may have lost Danny all over again. It was like watching her ex-husband die again.

She didn't know how many hours she'd been laying there, but it was completely dark out and the only thing lighting the room were the street lamps ten stories down on the street.

As she lay in the dark, there was a soft knock on her door. Cameron just laid on her bed, her body unwilling to move. When the knock sounded again, the blonde finally pushed her tired body off of the bed and to the door. She wiped her eyes as bed she could before opening it.

She was completely surprised to see Thirteen standing in the hallway. Tears jumped to her eyes again. She wasn't exactly sure why this time, but the second the tears were visible, Thirteen's arms wrapped around Cameron and she softly closed the door behind them.

Thirteen wasn't sure why she just pulled Cameron into her arms. It pained her to see Cameron in so much pain and her natural instinct was to hold her until the tears subsided. The internist gently held the back of Cameron's head what was rested on her shoulder and rubbed the blonde's back as the tears turned into sobs.

After a few minutes, Thirteen decided it was best to lay Cameron down. As Cameron laid down, she held onto Thirteen's jacket, pulling her down on the bed next to the weeping blonde. Cameron buried her face in Thirteen's neck and kept a grip of Thirteen's shirt so that the younger woman was as close to her as possible. Thirteen kept her head still and ran one hand up and down the blonde's back while the other arm snaked under Cameron's head and crossed the back Cameron's shoulder's keep her close.

It wasn't long before Cameron had cried herself to sleep. Thirteen let the arm under Cameron relax a little because it was starting to cramp.

She let her fingers lazily stroke Cameron's hair while she watched the older woman sleep. She saw the tear stains and the redness on Cameron's cheeks. She swallowed hard thinking that she would never want Cameron to have to go through this again. Losing someone else she loved. And Thirteen knew that if she and Cameron were to start dating it was a real possibility that she may die because of her Huntington's in a few short years and Cameron would have to deal with losing another significant other. Normally Thirteen would have chastised herself for thinking that she and Cameron would last long enough for the disease to take over, but she knew by her actions a few hours prior that she'd do anything for Cameron and since Cameron had stuck it out with Thirteen this long, the internist figured that the feelings were reciprocated.

As she gazed upon Cameron's soft features in the dim glow of the night, she wondered if Cameron could handle going thought it all again and if she really wanted to put Cameron through it.


	10. Chapter 10

She slowly woke up in a daze. It took her a minute to remember where she was. When she looked up, she saw Cameron standing at the window looking down, in the darkened room.

Thirteen slowly sat up. The movement caught Cameron's eye and she softly smiled at Thirteen. "Hey."

The younger doctor didn't know if she should get up and go to Cameron or stay put. She opted for the latter as it was safer. She ran a hand through her hair in an effort to make it look decent. "How long have you been up?"

"A few minutes," Cameron uncrossed her arms. Thirteen could see a phone in her hand, "I called the fertility center and they won't know what got lost in the fire until the morning."

Thirteen glanced at the clock. It was only eight forty-seven at night. "They answered their phones that late?"

"They've been working all day since the fire," Cameron answered still standing at the window. She paused, watching Thirteen sitting in the bed. The brunette quietly sat on the bed not saying anything.

Thirteen didn't know what to say. She wanted to comfort Cameron as best she could. Even in the dark she could see how red it was around Cameron's eyes.

"I never did thank you for coming," Cameron said quietly as she walked back to the bed. She slowly sat at the edge, a few feet from Thirteen.

Thirteen looked down at the sheets, "I…wasn't actually sure you would want me here."

Cameron quietly added, "There isn't anyone else I'd want here."

She tried to squash a smile. Now was not the right time to be smiling, but no one had ever said that she was the only one they wanted around when they were hurting, except in a medical setting.

The blonde scooted closer to Thirteen and leaned into her. The younger woman wrapped her arms around Cameron, closing her eyes as she felt the other woman sink into her.

After a few minutes, Cameron sniffled a bit and pulled away. She took a minute to regain her composure, "I'm gonna go wash my face, then how about we head to the bar downstairs?"

"Whatever you wanna do."

Thirteen watched Cameron walk into the bathroom and walk out with a face that didn't show any signs that she cried at all.

Almost an hour later, Cameron was staring into her forth or fifth Cosmo, while Thirteen was still sipping on her first bourbon. The blonde drained her remaining drink and signaled the bartender for another.

"I think you're two Cosmos beyond wasted," Thirteen carefully told Cameron who hadn't spoken much during their hour at the bar.

"That never stops you from having another," Cameron raised an eyebrow, finally looking at Thirteen.

The brunette was taken aback. She didn't expect such venomous comments from the blonde. Thirteen bit her lip to keep her reply behind her lips. She knew Cameron was in pain, there was no reason to insult her back.

Two Cosmos later, Cameron was giggling like a child and kept trying to make out with Thirteen in the bar. She was straddling Thirteen who was sitting on the barstool. She grabbed the collar of the leather jacket Thirteen was wearing. Pulling the internist close, she whispered into her ear, "Let's go back to the room."

Thirteen was relieved Cameron finally wanted to leave. Not the she minded Cameron all over her, she just liked it better when Cameron was sober and in a more private place. Plus Thirteen figured that Cameron would pass out as soon as they got to the room.

The brunette looked to the bartender who said, "It's already been charged to the room."

She nodded, "Thanks."

"Do you need help?" the bartender offered, gesturing to the blonde that had already grabbed onto the bar to keep from falling over.

Thirteen shook her head, "I got her."

The second Thirteen inserted the key into the lock Cameron quickly stumbled into the room and straight to the bathroom. Thirteen knew exactly what Cameron was doing and followed the blonde to hold her hair back and hand her, her toothbrush.

After she practically carried Cameron to the bed, Thirteen knelt next to her, "I'm gonna go downstairs and get some things."

Cameron sleepily nodded.

Thirteen swept some hair out of Cameron's forehead then kissed it before heading to the small store in the first floor of the hotel. When she returned, Cameron was back in the bathroom. Thirteen tossed what she bought onto the bed and helped Cameron in the bathroom before carrying her to bed again. This time she handed Cameron some aspirin and a sports drink.

"You're going to be hurting in the morning," Thirteen whispered as Cameron took the pills and sipped the drink.

Cameron didn't seem to hear her. She just pulled Thirteen onto the bed and snuggled into her. Thirteen took off her jacket then wrapped her arms around Cameron. She wasn't tired in the least, but she would never object to holding Cameron.

She stayed awake for a few hours, stroking Cameron's hair and debating the same thing she was the last time Cameron fell asleep in her arms. She thought about her own mortality affecting Cameron until she drifted off to sleep.

Cameron woke up in Thirteen's arms. She glanced at the clock, but the strain of her eyes hurt her head. She reached for the drink Thirteen bought her last night and downed it in a few gulps. Then she looked down at Thirteen whose arms were wrapped around her waist. Gently taking Thirteen's wrists in her hand, she tried to sneak out of bed without waking the brunette like she'd done the previous time she woke up, but Thirteen's eyes fluttered open and as soon as she regained her bearings, she studied Cameron, still unsure of what to do.

"Are you okay?" Cameron asked softly, stroking Thirteen's cheek.

Thirteen nodded, "I'm fine. Are you okay?"

Cameron sighed, "I…I'm scared.

The brunette immediately when with her instinct to wrap her arms around Cameron. In response, the blonde slid her arms around Thirteen's middle and closed her arms as tight as she could, keeping Thirteen pressed against her.

A minute later, Cameron slowly pulled away. "I need to go."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Thirteen asked expectantly.

There was a brief pause, "I think…. I need to do it myself."

Thirteen nodded, "Okay."

Cameron pulled Thirteen took her again, hoping to gain all the courage she could conjure between them to go see if what was left of her husband was still there. She pulled away only enough to kiss the younger doctor, before pulling away completely.

She slowly got dressed while Thirteen just sat on the bed and watched her.

"What are you going to do while I'm gone?" Cameron asked.

Thirteen shrugged, "I'll probably go get some clothes. I didn't pack anything when I figured out where you were. I just…hopped a plane." The last part sounded a little crazy as she said it.

Cameron smiled, sober for the first time since they'd arrived in Chicago. She walked over to Thirteen and kissed her again, deepening the kiss almost immediately. When she pulled away she said, "That's the sweetest thing anyone has every done for me."

The kiss was still affecting Thirteen so her brain was still in a haze when Cameron completely pulled away and went back to getting dressed.

"I'll be back later, okay?" Cameron paused at the door.

She waited for Thirteen to nod before walking out the door.

Cameron had been sitting in the waiting for close to an hour. She was tired and had a headache and sitting in a waiting room was not helping.

"Allison Cameron," the woman at the desk called.

Cameron's heart started racing. This was it. She would find out if she still had a chance to bear her dead husband's child or possibly children. She didn't know if she'd ever want to, but this frozen semen meant that she could if she wanted to.

"I'm Allison Cameron," Cameron told the woman.

"I'll need to see two forms of ID," the woman at the desk told her.

Cameron sighed and pulled out her wallet. She took out her driver's license and her hospital ID.

"Oh, Dr. Cameron," the woman studied Cameron before standing, "Come with me."

Cameron got more nervous with every step. Down the hallway they stopped at the second office on the left. There was an older man already sitting at the desk in the middle of the office.

As she walked in Cameron, studied the office. It was so much more organized than her own office and so much bigger. Cameron figured the man had a secretary or something to handle his filing while Cameron did all of her personally.

"Dr. Cameron to see you," the woman from the front desk told him.

The man nodded and waited for the door to close before addressing Cameron. "Have a seat."

Cameron begrudgingly sat down. She didn't like it when people told her what to do. She just wanted to get this over with.

"After going through all of the samples," the doctor paused, "We have found that your husband's sperm had partially defrosted."

Cameron felt tears spring to her eyes. Defrosted means they're already dead.

"However," the older doctor paused, "There is still enough that remained frozen for one, maybe two insemination."

The blonde sighed in relief. "Thank you."

He nodded as she stood and walked out. So much weight had been lifted off of her shoulders knowing that a little part of her husband was still alive.

When Cameron opened the door to the hotel room, she found that Thirteen had moved one of the two chairs in the room to the window and fell asleep in it.

The whole situation wasn't ideal, but it seemed that it had been a good thing, bringing the two women closer than they had been before. Cameron knew this.

The blonde walked over to the chair and softly stroked Thirteen's hair until her almost girlfriend's eyes fluttered open, "C'mon I bet the bed is a lot more comfortable than that chair." Cameron leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on Thirteen's forehead. Cameron noticed Thirteen's new white v-neck shirt and new jeans.

The younger doctor nodded and sleepily stood, walking to the bed in a deep mental haze. Even in her sleepy state, Thirteen had noticed Cameron's demeanor, "Judging by your smile I guess all is well." She practically fell on the bed, shimmying under the covers before she opened her eyes all the way to look at Cameron.

The ER head laid next to Thirteen, cuddling up to the younger doctor. She'd felt the need to be in constant contact with Thirteen so she wrapped her arms around her waist. Thirteen settled comfortable onto Cameron's shoulder and patiently waited for Cameron's response.

"Some of it is gone," Cameron paused, "So the fertility doctor said I'd only have one or two chances. If that doesn't take then that's that."

Thirteen looked up at the blonde, "Are you okay?"

"It's still two chances," Cameron held Thirteen closer, feeling the need to feel Thirteen's body pressed against her own.

There was a long pause and Thirteen was completely awake by then. She picked at the hem of Cameron's shirt, submerged in her own thoughts.

As Thirteen debated if she should share what she was thinking, Cameron asked, "What are you thinking?"

Thirteen hesitated before speaking, "That…I…I may only have a few years left." She paused, "And you lost your husband…"

Cameron craned her neck to kiss Thirteen, "I know what you're thinking and I've thought it over and over, but I never regretted any of my time with Danny and I have never regretted any of my time with you."


End file.
